§30115. Certification of compliance

(a) In General.—A manufacturer or distributor of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment shall certify to the distributor or dealer at delivery that the vehicle or equipment complies with applicable motor vehicle safety standards prescribed under this chapter. A person may not issue the certificate if, in exercising reasonable care, the person has reason to know the certificate is false or misleading in a material respect. Certification of a vehicle must be shown by a label or tag permanently fixed to the vehicle. Certification of equipment may be shown by a label or tag on the equipment or on the outside of the container in which the equipment is delivered.

(b) Certification Label.—In the case of the certification label affixed by an intermediate or final stage manufacturer of a motor vehicle built in more than 1 stage, each intermediate or final stage manufacturer shall certify with respect to each applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard—

(1) that it has complied with the specifications set forth in the compliance documentation provided by the incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary; or

(2) that it has elected to assume responsibility for compliance with that standard.

If the intermediate or final stage manufacturer elects to assume responsibility for compliance with the standard covered by the documentation provided by an incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer, the intermediate or final stage manufacturer shall notify the incomplete motor vehicle manufacturer in writing within a reasonable time of affixing the certification label. A violation of this subsection shall not be subject to a civil penalty under section 30165.

(Pub. L. 103–272, §1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 947; Pub. L. 106–414, §9, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1805.)

The words “fail to issue a certificate required by section 1403 of this title” in 15:1397(a)(1)(C) and the text of 15:1397(a)(1)(E) (related to 15:1403) are omitted as surplus. The word “certify” is substituted for “furnish . . . the certification” in 15:1403 to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “the time of” and “of such vehicle or equipment by such manufacturer or distributor” are omitted as surplus. The words “prescribed under this chapter” are added for clarity. The word “reasonable” is substituted for “due” in 15:1397(a)(1)(C) for consistency in the revised title. The words “to the effect that a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards” are omitted because of the restatement. The words “shown by” are substituted for “in the form of” in 15:1403 for clarity.

Amendments

2000—Pub. L. 106–414 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

Follow-Up Report

Pub. L. 106–414, §16, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1808, provided that: “One year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 1, 2000], the Secretary of Transportation shall report to the Congress on the implementation of the amendments made by this Act [see Short Title of 2000 Amendment note set out under section 30101 of this title] and any recommendations for additional amendments for consumer safety.”